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Monday, April 26, 2010

1936: BATHING IN THE DELAWARE

I made this trip on a number of occasions as a boy. As I recall, the beach had quite a few surface stones; not at all like the beach one would find at Gropp's Lake. I also recall going to the "Gravel Pits" over in the Penn Valley area of Morrisville, where there was also a stony beach. As to the graphic above, the Delaware even then was a bit polluted, but not like it is today,.

3 comments:

Ralph Lucarella said...

Hi Tom: Many people, I'm sure, remember Cliff Tomlinson, one of the life guards, as being one of the outstanding swimmers ever while at Trenton High and Princeton. I also had many occassions regarding sports that involved Fred Cooper and Tommy Haje, both very active in the recreation department. Best Regards

SJBill said...

My Dad may have been one of the kids in this picture - he'd have been about 13 at this time.

He and his neighborhood gang would swim at Lamberton Beach and when more adventuresome, he'd go downriver a bit to the brewery. From there, they'd dive off the rocks and swim the width of the river to "The Seven Sandies" - private/uncrowded on the Morrisville side.

When I was about two or three, I was taken to the same spot as in the picture where we'd swim from a home-made rowboat. How'd I feel about it? Pretty scared! It's a big and deep river if you're only three feet tall.

Anonymous said...

Your photo does not display on this page AND the Delaware River is not polluted today!